IBIT

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IBIT News

Advisory board meeting – November 2024

The IBIT advisory board meeting on November 6th, 2024, brought together industry partners, faculty, and students for a day of discussion, research, and celebration.

The meeting included opening remarks by newly appointed board chair, Sondra Barbour, and introduction of new members David McGettigan and Frank Fawzi.

Munir Mandviwalla led a discussion about IBIT’s new model for assessing interdisciplinary center impact, followed by a preview of IS Job Index 2024 by Laurel Miller. The meeting featured new research with board member Michael Bradshaw on Kyndryl‘s data liberation and practice modernization.

Manoj Chacko introduced the DIF showcase featuring MovisionHEP – physical therapy at home (Cole Hagen and Yuval Shimoni), Fanalli – fair-priced tickets for genuine fans (Rhea Mohite and Ayush Gupta), and GenAI reliability and transparency (Scholastic – Raghushri Sankaran and Konstantin Bauman).

The evening reception also included posters on AI Opportunity Index (Ziyi (Iggy) Zhao), Embodied Intelligence (David Liang, Lu Lu), and Virtual Pulmonary Rehabilitation (Cole Roberts, Seyedmohammad (Omid) Pourshahid).

The event concluded with a segment recognizing Bruce Fadem, outgoing founding board chair, for his contributions, including acknowledgments from Chip Hunter, Andrea Anania Stewart, Jeff Hamilton, and Munir Mandviwalla.

Directly manage and adjust patient rehab.

DIF is partnering with Omid Pourshahid, Assistant Professor, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, to develop a platform that allows providers to assess and manage patient rehab, and patients’ ability to provide data that is used to regularly adjust their rehab plan.

The role of AI avatars in hospitality

Lu Lu, Associate Professor, School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management and Wangoo Lee, Graduate Fellow are partnering with DIF to explore the role of AI avatars in hospitality. The Embodied Intelligence project will involve comparison and effects of AI avatars on the efficacy of hospitality interactions.

Rethinking the UX of TU Portal

Abey John, Director, Temple Information Technology Services is partnering with DIF to improve the user experience and governance of TUportal – a platform for information and transactions for internal stakeholders.

The DIF team includes Amy Lavin, Associate Professor of MIS who is conducting focus groups to evaluate usability and identify needs. The team also includes Manoj Chacko and Munir Mandviwalla.

Sondra Barbour appointed IBIT Advisory Board Chair

Sondra L. Barbour, Retired Executive Vice President, Information Systems & Global Solutions, Lockheed Martin Corporation

In her newly appointed role as Advisory Board Chair, Sondra L. Barbour aims to continue strengthening IBIT’s student development, research, and industry partnerships.  

Since starting as a founding board member in 2005, I have focused on raising awareness about the quality of the education students receive and the career paths they can pursue. In recent years, we have also prioritized mentoring students and connecting them to industry executives, as well as researching emerging technologies.

She is proud of the launch of the Digital Innovation Foundry, where “industry and the school come together to work on solving really tough real-world problems.” Barbour also helped to start IBIT’s Executive-in-Residence program, which connects students, faculty, and senior industry leaders.

Throughout her career at Lockheed Martin, Barbour gained extensive technology leadership experience, from information systems design and cybersecurity to supply chain oversight and risk management. Fortune magazine selected her twice as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business.” She is a Temple University Fox alumna, with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Accounting.

Barbour brings notable experience to the chair position, with past and current board service at NiSource, AGCO, Perspecta Inc., and 3M Company. She intends to build on the legacy of former founding chair Bruce Fadem.

I’m very excited that Bruce is remaining as a board member. He did a great job establishing a formal structure for the board, and we’ll continue operating like a corporate board to make the best recommendations.

Noting that leadership change is always a good moment for reflection, she plans to engage board members for their insights on IBIT’s future.

I want to ensure everyone has a voice and they’re heard. The members of this board are tremendous, with a huge amount of experience and diverse industry perspectives. We all have something significant to contribute.

Learn more about Sondra Barbour